AB de Villiers, South Africa’s captain, has said that he plans to be a part of his country’s first-ever Day-Night Test – which will be played against Australia, at the Adelaide Oval, starting from November 24, despite being cautioned against it by the doctors.

De Villiers was ruled out of the ongoing five-match ODI series as well the upcoming three-Test tour of Australia after opting to undergo a surgery as he sought to repair a troublesome left elbow – which failed to respond to treatment as well as rehabilitation.

However, the South African captain is desperate to be a part of his team’s first ever Day-Night Test. “I’m holding onto that (hope) a little bit,” de Villiers told FiveAA on Friday (October 7).

“According to the surgeons and the doctors there’s no chance. They did give me six weeks before rehab starts. I always feel the rehab phase can be sped up a bit,” he added.

De Villiers had the surgery earlier this week and the six-week time-frame for full recovery means he will be out of action until at least the start of the second Test, at Hobart – on November 12. The batsman reckons he has a shot at playing the final Test, if he can join the rest of the team in Hobart.

“So maybe after the six weeks, if I do fly over straight away, I’ll be there for the second Test match,” the 32-year old said. “There may be an opportunity to prepare during that game – not play in it – and then be ready for the Adelaide Test, which would be a dream come true to play in a day-night Test against Australia,” he added.

The star South African batsman had complained about the elbow injury which kept him out of the Tests against New Zealand in August. He underwent a fitness test before the start of the ongoing one-day series against Australia, but was then reconciled to undergo surgery after failing to pass the test.

“It came at a really bad time; there’s one Test series you really don’t want to miss out on and it’s playing Australia in Australia,” de Villiers rued. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and unfortunately I’ve got to sort this out,” he added.

De Villiers is a permanent fixture in all three South African teams and is a big draw across many Twenty20 leagues, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as well as the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he’s a part of the Barbados Tridents.

Speaking about his injury issues, De Villiers reckoned that the drive to be a part of a world champion South African outfit made him think past his niggles in the past. Under his captaincy, South Africa, reached the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup, only to lose a heart-breaker to co-hosts, New Zealand, at the Eden Park, Auckland.

That result left South Africa – one of the top contenders at every ICC event, still waiting for its first 50-over world cup success.”I think in the last couple of seasons I did push it a bit too much,” the Proteas star said. “I was very driven to win the 2015 World Cup and an injury was never going to keep me off the park. I was always going to just work through it.

“I think after that World Cup there was a big dip in my physical fitness and also mentally, I was a bit drained. I only realised that after the World Cup that I’d been pushing too hard,” he added.

However, one of the world’s best batsman isn’t thinking about quitting the shorter formats of the game, not at least until 2019, when the World Cup will be played in England. “That’s the biggest dream for me, that 2019 World Cup,” De Villiers said.

“I will have to manage myself to get there. I’ve always been a fit guy, I could maybe go even further than 2019. But to me 2019 is the main one. I would love to be around for that World Cup … if I get selected, of course,” he concluded.